Striking Hatchlings

[nikevijo]

What do you do when a hatchling continually strikes at its meal, but wont eat it? Just give it time?

[Alexandra V]

I'm sure many people will have many different methods, but what I do for any snake that keeps striking but not eating is I let it calm down for a couple days and then offer the prey item again and see if it will take it.

[Freakie_frog]

I'm sure many people will have many different methods, but what I do for any snake that keeps striking but not eating is I let it calm down for a couple days and then offer the prey item again and see if it will take it.

Bingo. That is defensive not feeding.

[jsmorphs2]

P.P.S. It's ok to house females together as long as they're the same size. They'll view each other as friends, not potential snacks, unless they are very different in size. Males need to be seperated in breeding season, but females can have tankmates year round. The only problem is noticing the early signs of disease. If one throws up or has an unhealthy stool, you'll have to seperate them to find out which one it was so she can get to a vet. There are pros and cons, but I don't see a problem with housing two females together especially when they're this young.

Kind of off topic but it's NOT recommended to house snakes together. Not sure why you posted this here because the OP was just asking a question about feeding but I just wanted to point this out in case any new keepers read your post looking for advice.

[Alexandra V]

Just to add on, if the snake won't take it after having a couple days, I would just wait until the next feeding. Offering food too often to a snake that isn't interested and is insecure will just stress it out more.

[Redneck_Crow]

I've seen mine strike at prey defensively when they just plain aren't hungry. Usually in a couple of days they're ready to get down to business.